Rural areas present a distinct challenge to providing services to individuals who are visually impaired and blind, and especially to those who are older.
I have had the experience of working in an urban area and in a very rural area. The barriers to individuals with visual impairmetns in rural areas seem to far exceed those of individuals living in urban areas.
Last year, we released the results of the OIB-TAC Best Practices Task Force. This group of 16 experts agreed upon best practices that relate to the administration of state older blind programs.
Some states provide Independent Living services to individuals who are under 55 years old. If anyone would like to share, We would like find out what types of services that are provided to this demographic and what resource stream does the state use to fund these services?
In my area, Southeastern Washington State, the state has cut back the funding for the independent older blind program which I find disturbing. I have only allowed to work with clients for three visits which is not enough to teach them the new technologies available to them.
Greetings and Happy Friday to Everyone,
Over the last several years our numbers of seniors served have risen quite a bit. On top of that, our eligibility criteria are very friendly at 20/60. With our increasing numbers we are going to have to come up with some policy guidelines to help us make sure we are getting to those seniors who need the services the most as quickly as possible.
Mark your calendars! The OIB-TAC live discussion series continues on Thursday, November 15, at 1:00 PM Eastern (12:00 Central, 11:00 Mountain, 10:00 Pacific), and you are invited to participate in this one-hour event.
